Outliers

The Story of Success

The best-selling author of Blink identifies the qualities of successful people, posing theories about the cultural, family, and idiosyncratic factors that shape high achievers, in a resource that covers such topics as the secrets of software billionaires, why certain cultures are associated with better academic performance, and why the Beatles earned their fame.

Outliers is a book to make you question your assumptions about life, and about people who are pre-eminent in their fields. Gladwell, a Canadian, is a writer for The New Yorker, so, of course, his book is both thoughtful and highly readable. He is not so much a researcher, as a thinker who reads the research of others, connects seemingly unrelated ideas, then show the patterns throughout. Some of the ideas covered in this book are so well-know that many of us are already familiar with them, either because of Gladwell's writings or because other journalists used the same sources.

Outliers examines so-called "successful" people, and shows that, while hard work and focus are important elements in their achievements, other factors -- essentially, being in the right place at the right time with the right background -- are immensely important. He illustrates this with numerous examples showing, for instance, that if you speak Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, you'll have a major head start in counting and in doing math in you head over speakers of European languages, and, that the legendary figures of Silicone Valley were all born within about three years, and, as teenagers, had access to computers not dreamed of by others. We learn why, unless your kids are rare exceptions such as Sydney Crosby , you can forget about them becoming NHL players if they wasn't born in the first half of the year. (Do your own research this by looking up hockey players' birthdays on Wikipedia.)

Outliers is a healthy antidote to the many business and self-help books promising that you can will, meditate, pray, or visualize your way to fame and fortune. Gladwell even uses his own history to show us that flukiness is an important factor in defining our reach and limitations, and in determining how well we do in life.

I have heard several of his essays mentioned in this book elsewhere, and heard his major theses in this book, too. But it was good to finally read it. I enjoyed it. I do think his theories are kind of flawed and cherry-picked. On the other hand, he does bring up good points about being born at the right time, and other circumstances creates the environment for someone to succeed.

Recently I had listened to an episode or two of his podcast, Revisionist History, and I definitely enjoyed those for the most part. Now that I've read a book by him, I realize how similar in style they are - love his storytelling and he makes some very intriguing points. Excited to read more by him!

Great book filled with cocktail-party-ready stories and anecdotes about famous figures and why they became so successful. Spoiler: it's a combination of hard work (10,000hrs of deliberate practice, to be precise), social abilities, and luck.

Outliers: the Story of Success. --- by. --- Malcolm Gladwell.
What is success anyway? Is it a job that pays googles of money? Is it a job that is somehow satisfy? Is it a job the confers on you The ability to express yourself freely? Whatever it is it's almost certainly not the result of the efforts of the individual who achieves it. In fact it is Gladwell's contention that success comes as a result of the junture of any number of fortunate factors. Were you born in December or January? What is your IQ? In what year were you born? What is the nature of your demographic cohort ? All of these factors come into play, many more in fact, explain success or failure. Gladwell writes well, this goes without saying. The points he makes are always backed up anecdotally. The book isn't big but it does Pack a big whallop. There are a lot of people who should read this book: those who make decisions in education; airline executives; those in the legal profession and lots of others .given all the insights this book purveys, it is a book that should be read by many.

I remember reading The Tipping Point and The Blink. I don't remember what they were about without looking them up. I do remember, and that's very important, that enjoyed both of them tremendously. Will I remember, five years down the road, what were Outliers about? Probably not. But I will remember enjoying the intricate mechanism of this author's mind. And when the next title comes along, I know I will enjoy that too.

This audiobook was perfect for my daily long drives in the car. Narrated with a gentle voice and exceptionally detailed with accounts of fascinating human phenomena, it was a great alternative to listening to the radio and repetitive news stories. The Outliers kept me engaged and wanting to hear more, disappointed every time I had to turn the car off.

Quotes

To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages that today determine success – the fortunate birth dates and the happy accidents of history – with a society that provides opportunities for all.